


Beneath the Snow

by SilvorMoon



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Fluff, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:27:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25210876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilvorMoon/pseuds/SilvorMoon
Summary: Asuka is bored on her vacation and desperate for something to occupy her time. When she unexpectedly runs into Manjoume, she knows she's at least in for an interesting time. Manjoume is determined to win her over, and when a lost duel spirit calls on the two of them for help, he thinks he's found the perfect chance - unless their adventure in a winter wonderland ends up putting more than their relationship on ice.
Relationships: Manjoume Jun | Chazz Princeton/Tenjouin Asuka | Alexis Rhodes
Comments: 5
Kudos: 19





	Beneath the Snow

**Author's Note:**

> The was originally written as a gift exchange fic for OjamaYellow.

Asuka had known from the very beginning that this was going to be a bad idea. That was the trouble with Fubuki: he had ideas, often ones that sounded wonderful in theory, but they always seemed to lack something in practice. Even though Asuka was aware of this fact, she wasn’t much more immune to his charms than anyone else. 

Take this vacation, for instance. Her school’s winter break was coming up, and Fubuki had phoned her in a whirl of excitement, telling her all about his plans to spend the vacation in a ski resort. The way he’d painted it, it had sounded like a winter wonderland, with slopes to ski on, trails to hike, a cozy central fireplace where she could enjoy a good book and a mug of hot chocolate, a restaurant serving gourmet meals, a spa with sauna and a staff of masseurs, and on and on. She would enjoy having a break after all the hard work she’d been putting in, he said. It would be nice for them to have some time together, he said. She would enjoy it, he said. 

And so she had agreed, and now, here she was, sitting in the resort’s main room, looking out at the snowy landscape and wondering just what it was she’d thought she was going to enjoy. She didn’t know how to ski and didn’t feel like paying the money for lessons. She was not, when it came down to it, particularly fond of spas. Hiking meant trekking out in freezing temperatures and about a foot of snow, not something she felt particularly inclined to do just now. Fubuki had, predictably enough, found a flock of snow bunnies who had invited him to join them, and Asuka hadn’t had the heart to spoil his fun. As for sitting by the fire and reading, well, that might have been more appealing if she were alone. The prime spots by the fire, however, were currently being occupied by a lot of serious-looking men, the kind of people who looked as though they should be wearing suits and ties even when they weren’t. They were discussing finance in a comfortable sort of way that suggested they could keep it up for days if need be. Just listening to them depressed her. 

_What am I going to do with all my time?_

She sighed and continued her vigil, watching all the other people outside having fun. She wished there was someone else there she knew. At least then there would be someone to talk to. Right now, she would even be glad to see Juudai, even if seeing him would probably mean some other kind of trouble was starting. Really, anyone would do - Ryou, or Shou, or Kenzan, or... 

“Tenjoin-kun?” 

She jumped and looked around, startled. That voice... it must have been her imagination. Surely it was too wild a coincidence to find _him_ here... 

But there he was, separating himself from the men sitting around the fire and approaching her with the air of someone about to ask their idol for an autograph. 

“It is you, isn’t it?” he asked. 

Asuka smiled in spite of herself. “Hello, Manjoume. It’s good to see you again.” 

He beamed, as if he’d secretly thought she might have forgotten he existed in the year or so it had been since they’d last seen each other. Actually she’d seen quite a lot of him, if only on television. His dueling career had been progressing satisfactorily, with a gratifying number of wins and only enough losses to make his next comeback all the more dramatic. She had tuned in to watch him whenever she had the chance, because watching Manjoume was always good entertainment. Aside from that, they’d exchanged a few texts and phone calls, and swapped gifts at birthdays and Christmas. Still, it felt like forever since they’d last been face to face. 

“What are you doing here?” he asked. He seemed to realize how that had sounded and added quickly. “Not that I’m not happy to see you. I mean, I’m _thrilled_ to see you here. It’s just that I wasn’t expecting to see you. I mean, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be here if you want to...” 

She began to laugh. She had almost forgotten what Manjoume was like, once you got past his showman persona. 

“Manjoume,” she said, “would you like to get a hot chocolate with me?” 

He lit up as if all his dreams had come true. “Sure!” 

“Good,” she said. She smiled and got up from her armchair. Unable to resist teasing him, she added, “You’re paying.” 

“Okay!” he said cheerfully. 

Asuka held her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle. She felt a bit cruel, picking on him like that, but he did make it easy. At least she could be sure that the cost of a hot chocolate, even one as overpriced as the ones at the resort, wouldn’t even begin to pinch his budget. 

_Come to think of it, he could buy the whole resort and probably not pinch his budget. He’d do it, too, and look just as happy about it, if he thought I wanted him to._

They ambled over to the counter where a solemn man was dishing out coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and assorted other drinks and nibbles to the guests. Manjoume made a show of paying for the hot chocolates, and, after a brief consultation, a sliver of cake for each of them. They carried their snacks over to a small table that no one had claimed yet. Asuka took a sip of her drink and discovered it to be excellent. Manjoume stirred whipped cream into his, but absently, as though he’d already half-forgotten it was there. 

“So what brings you out here?” she asked him. “I didn’t take you for a skier.” 

“I’m not,” said Manjoume, “but Shoji is, and he and Chosaku brought some people here with them to try to impress them, and they dragged me along.” 

“Let me guess,” said Asuka. “They wanted to show off the famous Manjoume Thunder.” 

“Yeah, well.” Manjoume preened a little. “It’s not like these guys know a duel from a game of Monopoly. I’m just a name to them.” 

“You must be bored,” said Asuka. She glanced back at the men talking finances. She’d been looking at them from the back before, but from her new vantage point, she could recognize Manjoume’s brothers sitting in the crowd, sipping exotic coffee drinks and chatting expansively. They were clearly having more fun than Manjoume. 

Manjoume groaned and slumped against the wall. “Am I ever. There’s _nothing_ worthwhile to do here.” 

“I know what you mean,” she said. “Fubuki convinced me to come here with him, but this really isn’t my sort of place. I’m not really sure what I’m going to do for the next four days.” 

“Four days, huh?” said Manjoume thoughtfully. “I’m going to be here until Sunday. Maybe we could, you know... hang out. If you want. We could have a few duels, maybe, or go into town and do some shopping, catch a movie, something like that...” 

“There’s a town around here?” Asuka asked. She hadn’t noticed it on the way in. 

“Yeah, it’s on the other side of the mountain,” said Manjoume. “If you wanted to go, I could give you a lift.” 

Asuka wavered a moment. Manjoume must have seen it on her face, because he added, “It’ll save you the price of a cab.” 

She smiled. “All right, you talked me into it.” 

He beamed, and she got the impression he was just barely restraining the impulse to pump his fist and shout, “Yes! Yes!” 

_Well, I suppose it’s flattering,_ she thought. She wondered why it was that he was still so stuck on her after all this time. It had been understandable when they’d been on the island together. There hadn’t been that many girls at Duel Academia, and she didn’t suffer from false modesty where her own desirability was concerned. She had been one of the best duelists, male or female, on the island, and that alone would have been enough to make her popular. Add in the fact that she was passably attractive, and it was small wonder that she’d had admirers among those members of her male classmates who weren’t intimidated by a girl who could duel better than they could. 

But Manjoume was a bit different. He was a famous duelist now. He got invited to fancy parties, gave TV interviews, had his own fan club. His social circle included everything from other pro duelists to pop stars and millionaires. He should have been able to take his pick of beautiful, talented young woman. It was a mystery why he should continue to take an interest in her. Was it habit, she wondered? Nostalgia for the good old days? Or did it have something to do with her brother’s influence? 

_I never could figure out what was going on in his head,_ she mused, as she followed him out of the building. 

Still, he was always interesting, and right now, she would give a lot to have something interesting going on in her life. Anyway, this wasn’t Duel Academia, where weird things were liable to pop out of the woodwork every few hours and make her life complicated. What was the worst that could happen? 

* * *

It was all Manjoume could do not to do a little celebratory dance right there in the snow. This went beyond good luck. It had to be a kind of fate. Surely nothing other than fate could explain how he and Asuka could both be at this remote mountain resort at the same time, both of them at loose ends and dying for something to do with their time. Clearly the universe was conspiring to bring them together at last. 

All right, so fate hadn’t done a very good job of it the first time around, but that had been back at the Academy, where there was always one distraction after another. It had been practically a miracle, back then, if you could go more than an hour without somebody getting possessed by something, or someone else trying to take over the world, or some magical artifact getting stolen. That had been a good thing in some ways. There were commentators who liked to say that his passionate persona was merely an act, because when it came down to the clutch he was always perfectly composed. The truth was that his soul was as tempestuous as ever; it was just that after Dark World and the Society of Light and all the rest, a mere human duelist using ordinary cards was nothing to get worked up about. That had been good for his career, but it hadn’t done much for his love life. 

But today, things were going to be different. He had the better part of the week to spend with Asuka, with no distractions and no competition. They would have time to really connect. Once she had the chance to see what he was really like when she gave him a chance... 

These and similarly pleasant thoughts were percolating in the back of his head as the two of them rode together down the track to the village. While they rode, they chatted together, catching up on what the other had been doing, comparing notes about what their friends had been doing lately. Asuka mentioned having met Juudai briefly, when he’d blown past her college on some mysterious errand that he hadn’t wanted to talk about but which he’d assured her was completely under control now. Manjoume said he’d run into Edo and Saiou at a charity do and that they seemed to be in good spirits. Both and Asuka had run into the Marufuji brothers at one point or another, and they agreed it would be fun if they could arrange for all of them to get together. 

After a few minutes of this sort of chat, they arrived in the village, and the car pulled up in front of the town hall to let them out. This was a tourist village, mainly, catering to the visitors to the nearby ski resorts. It was pretty enough, in a mass-produced sort of way, short on unique character but not altogether lacking in charm. It boasted a number of pleasant little cafes and even more shops selling assorted souvenirs. Manjoume toyed with the idea of offering to buy Asuka something she wanted - or anything or everything she wanted - and discarded it. 

_Just my luck to fall for a girl who isn’t easy to impress._ By now he’d had plenty of experience with people who were impressed by his money, his family name, his place in the Pro Leagues. Some of them even professed to be interested in his looks. However, none of that seemed to make any impression on Asuka. Sometimes he felt proud that she was a woman of such character, not to be swayed by trivialities. Other times he wished she was just a little bit more accessible. 

_But we’re together now,_ he thought, pausing to admire the sight of her peering happily into a shop window. _All I have to do is be patient and charming, and then..._

Something flickered in the corner of his eye. A sinking sensation washed over him. 

_Oh, no. Not now. Please, everything was going so well. Let me just have one day without something weird happening..._

Feeling a sense of the inevitable, he turned his head slowly until he found the source of the disturbance. Someone was lurking around the corner of a nearby shop, someone whose translucence would have revealed them as a duel spirit even if their costume hadn’t. It looked like a man in shiny silver armor, surrounded by a slowly drifting spray of ice crystals that shimmered beneath the overcast sky. Manjoume watched it a moment, hoping that it was simply the companion of one of the locals, or of one of the tourists, some friendly guardian spirit that had come out to keep an eye on its duelist in this strange new place. But no, he couldn’t be that lucky. The spirit was in obvious distress. Every time a new crowd of people passed by, it would reach out to them in supplication, then slump dejectedly when they passed it by. 

_It’s none of my business. It’s not my problem. Someone else can deal with it,_ Manjoume told himself, but he didn’t really believe it. He muttered savagely under his breath. 

“Is something wrong?” Asuka asked, turning away from the window. 

“With my luck, probably,” said Manjoume. He looked down, embarrassed. “You mind if we get out of the main street? I need to talk to the you-know-whats.” 

Asuka looked faintly amused. “What, them? Are they still following you around?” 

“They never stop,” he said. “But I need them for something right now, and I don’t want people to see me talking to thin air.” 

“Something _is_ wrong, then,” she said, sobering. “You wouldn’t be trying to talk to them now if it wasn’t.” 

Well, he’d never thought she was stupid. He shrugged, trying to make it look casual. “Let’s just say I’m open to the possibility that something isn’t.” 

They crept around to the back of the building, where a snack machine and a dumpster combined to make a bit of shelter. A few scattered cigarette butts and other debris suggested that the staff of the shop, at least, had already discovered this nook as an out-of-the-way spot where they could have a smoke out of the wind without being nagged by customers. That meant that someone could be along at any second. Better make this quick. 

“All right, you three,” he said. “I know you’re listening, so come out where I can see you.” 

“Gee, Big Bro,” piped a voice in his ear, “you told us never to bother you when you were talking to Miss Tenjoin.” 

“Well, I’m not talking to her right this second,” he said, turning he head to fix Yellow with an irritated look. 

Ojama Green popped into view next to his brother. “Ooh, you’re not speaking to her? Did you have a fight?” 

“Do you want our help?” Black chimed in. “I hear flowers work.” 

Manjoume spluttered. “No, I did not have a...! Look, leave my personal life to me, okay? All I want from you clowns is for you to go across the street over there and see if you can figure out what that spirit over there wants. Is that too much to ask?” 

The Ojamas huddled together nervously. Yellow whimpered, “But what if he’s dangerous?” 

“That’s what I want you to find out,” said Manjoume. “Look, you don’t have to challenge him to a throwdown or anything, just watch him for a minute and see what he’s doing. If he looks friendly, talk to him and ask him what’s up. Otherwise, come back here and I’ll deal with it.” 

The Ojamas reluctantly agreed and flitted off on their errand. Manjoume watched them vanish around the corner, and was aware of Asuka watching him watch them. 

“I’m never going to get over that,” she said. 

Manjoume flinched slightly. “It’s not like I _asked_ to be able to do this.” 

“I’m not criticizing,” she said quickly. “It’s just... it’s so strange seeing someone talking to something I know is there, but I can’t see. It makes me wonder how much else I’m missing.” 

_Oh, great,_ Manjoume thought. So not only was it a perpetual annoyance to have spirits clamoring in his ears at all hours, it also gave the woman he liked the creeps. Was that why she’d never been interested in him - because there was something about him that she found fundamentally scary? If that was the case, he was going to have a serious complaint to the dueling gods. His weird talent wasn’t worth this. 

“I can’t help it,” he said. “They just talk to me, and I can’t figure out how to make them stop.” 

“It’s all right,” she said. “It’s just, well...” 

She didn’t finish the sentence, and Manjoume was glad that the Ojamas returned at that moment to give him an excuse not to finish this painful conversation. 

“We found out who he is, Big Bro!” they burbled. 

“Well?” he said. “Spit it out already, geez.” 

“It’s okay, he’s nice!” said Yellow, eager to be of service. “His name is Escher the Frost Vassal, and he’s looking for help.” 

“So we told him you’d help him,” Black added cheerfully. 

“What? No! Don’t I get any say in this?” Manjoume protested. “Look, I’ve got a thing going on right now.” 

“What are they saying?” Asuka asked. 

“They say there’s a duel spirit over there who’s looking for help, and they promised I’d help him,” said Manjoume. He sighed. “Look, I don’t think I can get out of this. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to. I can tell my driver to take you back to the lodge, or anywhere else you want to go.” 

She looked thoughtful for a moment. 

“Let’s find out what he wants first,” she said. “Maybe I can help.” 

Manjoume couldn’t help but smile. Sure, she was just doing it because she was that nice of a person, and because she’d just be bored back at the lodge, but it was nice to think she might still want to spend time with him too. 

“Well, what are we waiting for?” he said, with considerably more enthusiasm for the task than he’d had a moment before. “Let’s go!” 

Following the eager Ojamas, they crossed the street and wound their way to a secluded stand of pine trees that screened them slightly from the rest of town. The warrior was waiting there, sitting cross-legged in midair on a cloud of ice crystals. He didn’t _look_ suspicious, Manjoume thought. He had all the dignity of a sage sitting on top of a mountain, preparing to dole out advice to his petitioners. Despite that, he turned a look of pleading towards Manjoume and Asuka as they approached. 

“You can see me?” he asked. His voice was like wind echoing in a deep cave. “You can hear me?” 

“Yeah, sure,” said Manjoume. “Plain as day.” 

Escher heaved a deep sigh, like a man putting down an almost unbearable burden. 

“At last,” he said. “I had almost lost hope.” 

Manjoume fidgeted a little, uneasy with this show of emotion. 

“Yeah, well,” he said. “Anyway, I’m Manjoume Jun, and this is my friend, Tenjoin Asuka.” He didn’t bother with the Ojamas; presumably, they’d already met. 

“I am Escher the Frost Vassal,” said the spirit somberly, “and I want to go home.” 

“So, why don’t you?” Manjoume asked. 

“My brethren and I are trapped,” Escher explained. “Hence why I am seeking aid among humans.” 

As he spoke, Manjoume relayed the details to Asuka. It seemed that Escher had once been his duelist’s favorite card, and Escher had loved him in return and done everything he could to protect him in their many battles. His duelist had come with some friends to this mountain retreat on a vacation. They had planned to hike to the top of the mountain and duel together on the peak with the landscape making a dramatic background. During the hike, the duelist had slipped on a patch of loose rubble and ice and fallen into a crevasse. His deck case had slipped out of his pocket in the fall, and it had fallen down a crack and become lost under the earth. After hours of searching, the group had been forced to give up and go home without it. 

“I do not blame him,” said Escher. “We had fallen deep under the earth, and no one could have reached us then. Since that time, the earth has shifted, and a crack has opened up that would allow a human to retrieve us. As the spirit with the closest ties to this world, I was dispatched to seek the help of a human who could see spirits, and lead them to our resting place.” 

“So all you want is for us to follow you back to your deck?” Manjoume asked, summing up for Asuka’s benefit. 

“Yes,” said Escher. 

“Is this going to be dangerous?” Asuka wondered. 

“There will be an element of danger,” Escher admitted. “The path is dark and rough. There is a chance of accidents. I will do my best to minimize the risks by showing you the safest route and warning you of dangers, but...” 

Manjoume relayed this information to Asuka. She took it calmly, as he would have expected from a woman of her caliber. 

“Well, then,” she said, “I suppose we had better get some supplies.” 

“You’re coming with me?” he asked hopefully. “I mean, he said it would be dangerous. I don’t want anything to happen to you.” 

She put a hand on his arm, a gesture that should have him standing in a puddle of melted snow from the warmth it sent through him. 

“I’m not letting you walk into danger alone,” she said. “If you’re going, I’m going.” 

Manjoume found himself grinning. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad, after all. 

“Well, okay, then,” he said. “Let’s get packing.” 

* * *

It turned out that when Manjoume said “packing,” it wasn’t just a rhetorical flourish. Asuka stood by and watched in mild amazement as Manjoume set about purchasing bags and supplies to go into them. She had not thought of him as a great outdoorsman, but he had clearly walked in with a definite goal in mind and definite standards for things like ropes and ice axes. 

“When did you get to be such an expert on this?” she asked. 

“I stayed a couple of months at North School, remember?” he replied. “That place makes all this look like a day at the beach. If there’s one thing they taught me...” He trailed off, looking briefly thoughtful. “Well, they taught me a lot of stuff, but one of them was how to manage in cold, icy places.” 

She smiled a little. “So you do have skills besides dueling. I’m impressed.” 

He huffed. “I can do lots of things. Dueling just happens to be what I’m best at.” 

He paid for his purchases and began distributing everything between the two of them. Neither of them had come equipped for serious outdoor trekking, so both of them had new coats and boots, in addition to flashlights and chemical heating packs and all the rest, not to mention new backpacks to put it all in. 

“I’ll pay you back for all of this,” said Asuka, as she buttoned her new coat on. 

“Don’t worry about it,” said Manjoume. “This is my problem. You volunteered. You won’t be much help without the right equipment.” 

And that was Manjoume in a nutshell, she mused, as the two of them set out again into the snowy world. When there was a problem, he stepped up and dealt with it. He’d rallied to the cause of defending Osiris Red, he’d helped to hunt for Daitokuji, he’d battled zombies and Dark World monsters. He grumbled and complained every step of the way, making sure everyone knew what a big favor he was doing them by helping, but he _helped_. 

_Which is better than someone who’s always cheerful and polite but disappears as soon as you need them,_ she thought. _I guess he is pretty nice, underneath it all. Well, kind of, anyway._

They met Escher at the edge of town - or, at least, Asuka assumed they had met him. She still couldn’t see anything, no matter how she strained her eyes. If it hadn’t been for her experiences at the Academy, she might have been inclined to think this was all just some strange practical joke. Having once met the Ojamas, though, she couldn’t easily forget them. There was something terribly _present_ about an Ojama that you couldn’t pretend didn’t exist, and once you’d allowed for them you had to allow for the rest of the monster worlds. 

“So how far are we going?” she asked, as they left the beaten track and set off deeper into the woods. 

“Escher says about half a mile out in the open,” Manjoume replied, after listening briefly. “Then we’re going through a crack in the ground that will take us through some caves. After that, it’s another couple of miles underground, but he says once we find the deck he can show us a shortcut back to the ski lift, so it won’t be such a long trip back.” 

“Underground,” she murmured, and felt her stomach clench. It wasn’t that she was afraid of the dark or anything like that. She had faced plenty of things worse than a little darkness. In fact, depending on how you defined things, she had met it personally. But going down into a cave meant going somewhere cell phones couldn’t reach, someplace no one would ever find her if she got trapped or lost. She thought about calling her brother and telling him what she was doing, and decided against it. He would either want to come along or try to stop her from going, neither of which was likely to be particularly helpful. 

“You worried?” Manjoume asked. 

“A little,” she admitted. “What if we get stuck down there?” 

He shrugged. “I send one of my spirits to find Juudai or somebody like that and let him come drag us out.” 

“Would that work?” 

“Don’t see why not. He does that sort of thing, so it ought to be a piece of cake for him.” 

Asuka wasn’t completely convinced that this was really something that would work, but it made her feel a little better anyway. 

Trekking through the woods wasn’t as hard as she’d thought it would be. The trees had, if not completely blocked the snow, then at least re-directed it so that there were shallower places where walking was easier. Before long, they had reached a rocky not-exactly-cliff, where a scree of rocks and boulders lay half-buried in snow. Between two of the largest stones was a gap just wide enough for a person to crawl through, with a bit of a squeeze. The two of them examined it critically. 

“I’ll go in first,” said Manjoume. “You hold your flashlight so I can see what I’m doing.” 

She nodded and held up the light. Manjoume experimented with a few different techniques for fitting through the crack before settling on lying facedown in the snow and sliding himself in feet first. She watched him ease his way into the darkness until he was hanging by his fingertips. He dangled there a moment, then let go. An instant later, she heard the soft crunch of someone landing in a pile of snow and gravel. 

“Are you all right?” she called down. 

“I’m fine,” he said. “Come on. I’ll help you down.” 

She crouched down in the snow and began easing herself into the crack. 

_Don’t think about it,_ she told herself. Just do it. 

Her feet slipped through the opening, and she flailed around a bit, trying to find somewhere to brace them. Somewhat to her surprise, she found something. Manjoume was holding up his interlaced hands to give her something to rest her feet on. Once she was securely balanced, she slid the rest of the way down. 

“Thanks,” she said, and flashed a quick smile she wasn’t sure he could see in the gloom. She had been forced to put her flashlight away to make the climb, and now the only light was the gray daylight seeping through the crack above them. She knew that in reality it was only about two feet above her head. It already felt further. 

Manjoume unhooked the ice axe from his belt and slipped the loop around his wrist, then took out his flashlight and clicked it on. Light danced around the tunnel, illuminating walls of wet rock. The cave was narrow, about five feet from side to side, with the occasional jutting rock narrowing it. A rough floor stretched away into the dark. 

“Looks like there’s only one way to go,” said Manjoume. “Ready?” 

“As I’ll ever be,” she said. She turned on her flashlight, adjusted her grip on the ice axe, and followed him into the unknown. 

* * *

_Well, this could be better,_ Manjoume thought. 

Not that it was entirely bad. It was dark and damp inside the cave, but his coat was warm and waterproof, and he’d had the foresight to bring more than one flashlight. The path they were following was a rough one - it was clear that no human had ever come this way before, and there were plenty of places where he and Asuka had to climb over something, or leap across a crack, or ease their way over patches of ice. Nevertheless, it was never difficult enough to do more than slow them down a little. They were making good progress, and Escher assured them that they would soon reach their destination. All they had to do was to keep walking. 

And yet, he couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. For one thing, he wished that he had more opportunities for heroism on this journey. Just walking down a corridor didn’t exactly make him look good. He was afraid that Asuka would find herself thinking that she was wasting her time here, that he had dragged her away from warmth and comfort for no good reason. Fleetingly, he wished she had let him go alone, if only so he could have the satisfaction of knowing she’d worried about him, and perhaps be able to tell her a few hair-raising and nearly true stories of his daring escapades. She wasn’t likely to be too impressed with him for just walking around underground. 

The other irritating thing was that the mood was all wrong. If you’d asked him even a few hours ago, he’d have said that there was nothing he would rather do than spend a little time alone with Asuka. He was sure that, given the right opening, he could find a way to charm her. The trouble was, you needed the right sort of atmosphere if you were going to make any headway with this sort of thing. A little café, a snowy forest, the fireplace back at the lodge - any of those would have done for a romantic backdrop. Unfortunately, you couldn’t say things like, “So, how’s college going for you?” while you were creeping along an icy ledge in an underground cave. 

He had a go at it anyway. 

“Are you still doing all right?” he called over his shoulder. 

“I’m fine,” said Asuka, sounding a little short of breath. “It’s just a little steep through here.” 

It was. They were scrambling their way up what amounted to a heap of boulders, chunks of rock that had fallen from the ceiling eons ago, creating something that approximated a staircase to a higher level of the cave - that is, assuming you didn’t mind stairs that were slanting, wobbly, or three feet high. Manjoume wasn’t finding it easy going, either, but he was doing his best not to show it. 

“We can take a breather when we get to the top, if you want,” he offered. 

“Please,” she said. 

He reached down for her hand, and together they scrambled their way over the final ledge. Once there, they sat side by side, legs dangling over the edge, while they caught their breath. They set their flashlights down next to them, so that the beams stretched out over the rocks they’d just climbed. For a little while, they just sat. Manjoume tried not to make it obvious that he was breathing hard after his climb. He really ought to work out more, he thought. 

“So, how’s college going for you?” he said at last. 

“Not bad, I guess.” 

“You guess?” 

“It’s fine,” she said. “I mean, I’m making friends, I’m doing well at my classes, I’m learning a lot. It’s not like it was back at the Academy, but...” 

“Would you really want it to be like it was at the Academy?” Manjoume asked. 

She laughed softly. “Probably not. I mean, not with the monsters and aliens and ghosts and I don’t know what else. I like things to be settled. But doing those things made me feel like I was... I don’t know... doing something meaningful. Just sitting through lessons and doing homework doesn’t feel as important by comparison. And then I look at you and Shou and all the others who are dueling professionally, and I look at Hayato working for Industrial Illusions and making new cards, and Juudai out in the world doing whatever it is he does these days, and sometimes I start feeling like what I’ve chosen to do is small by comparison. I start thinking, could I do more? Should I? I used to think I wanted to be a pro duelist, too, and then I went to the Academy, and the time I spent there meant so much to me that I decided I wanted to be a teacher someday and share all the things I’ve learned. But then I think, I would probably learn a lot in the pros, too. Maybe I’m just afraid to challenge myself. Maybe I’m taking the easy way out. Then again, even if I have the skills to be a pro duelist, I don’t know that I have the personality for it. I’ve never really enjoyed being center stage, not the way you and Fubuki do.” She sighed. “It’s so confusing. You’re lucky. You’re always so sure about everything you do.” 

He snorted. “Are you sure you’re talking to the right guy? I mean, I know it’s dark in here but you can’t have forgotten who I am already.” 

“I know who you are,” she said, sounding amused. “You’re Manjoume Thunder.” 

“Don’t joke around,” he said. “I’m trying to be serious here.” 

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I wasn’t trying to be flippant. It’s just... I guess that’s how I always see you: Manjoume Thunder, standing in the spotlight, working the crowd.” 

“Yeah, well,” he said. Privately, he was a bit flattered. There were plenty of worse ways she could look at him, at least. “That’s not how I see myself.” He paused, then added, “Not all the time, anyway.” 

“Then how do you see yourself?” she asked. 

“Hmm...” He leaned back, staring into the darkness. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad place for a heart to heart after all, he thought. Some things were easier to say when you couldn’t see each other. 

“You know my parents died when I was pretty young, right?” he began at last. 

“I suppose I sort of had a feeling,” she said. “I mean, your brothers seem to be the ones who call the shots in your family.” 

“Right,” said Manjoume. “Anyway, Chosaku was already grown when they died, so he was already working for dad’s law office and wrapped up in making political connections, and Shoji was in college and wrapped up in exams. They were the only family I had left, and they were too busy to pay much attention to me. I learned, after a while, that it wasn’t enough for me to just be there. I learned that I had to be really extraordinary if I wanted anyone to notice. If I didn’t make a lot of noise, no one would hear me.” He stared out into the darkness. “The trouble with being amazing is that once you’ve proven you can do it, you have to _keep_ doing it. If you stop, everyone thinks you’re slacking. You just have to keep doing more and more...” 

He trailed off. For a little while, there was no sound but the distant trickle of water and the crack of shifting rock. Manjoume was aware of the chill in the air, of the dampness of the stone, of the way the cold was seeping even though his warm clothes. 

Then came unexpected warmth: Asuka had laid her hand over his. 

“I hear you,” she said. 

He squirmed, feeling himself blushing all the way down to his toes. 

“Thanks,” he said. He coughed slightly. “Anyway, it’s not so bad. I used to think it only counted as spectacular if I won. Turns out, you can get away with a lot as long as you act confident while you’re doing it. So you don’t need to stress too much about whether you’re doing the right thing. You’re really smart and talented, and you’re going to be great at whatever you do, so pick something that looks like fun and give it all you’ve got. If it works out, everybody will be impressed. If it doesn’t, you’ll have enjoyed yourself anyway, and everyone will respect you for trying.” 

“You really think so?” she asked. 

“Absolutely sure,” he said. “And if you want to try out for the pros, I’d love to have a chance to play against you again.” More quietly, he said, “But I think you’d be a good teacher, too. It’s important to have people who can listen.” 

“Thanks,” she said. “You know, you’re really pretty smart, at times.” 

He grinned. “I’ve picked up a thing or two. You know, here and there.” 

“I suppose you have,” she said. She stood up. “Are you ready to go on?” 

“Yeah, let’s get moving,” he said. He began pulling himself to his feet, and Asuka reached down to help him up. 

“You know,” he said, “the path up ahead is probably slippery. Escher said there would be ice and stuff. Maybe we should hold hands, just to be safe.” 

He held his breath, waiting for her response. If he’d just pushed his luck too far... 

“All right,” she said. 

“Great,” he said, with a calm that astonished even him. “Can’t be too careful in a place like this.” 

But inwardly, he rejoiced. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad place to get to know each other after all. 

* * *

There was something unreal about walking in a cave. Asuka had begun to feel that the world outside had dwindled away to insignificance. The world had become darkness, coldness, trickling water, and a rocky path that wound its way into the unknown. She couldn’t see what was behind her, nor could she see very much in front. She had lost track of how much time had passed since she’d first entered the tunnel. There was a dreamy sense in the air that she’d wandered into some other dimension where the normal rules didn’t apply. She wasn’t even sure she felt like the same person. 

_I never would have thought of having a heart to heart with Manjoume, of all people._ He had never really struck her as the type who would listen to personal confessions. He’d always seemed too wrapped up in himself to pay any attention to what other people were thinking or feeling. But that was the point, wasn’t it? She’d never really made much of an effort to get to know him better. She’d assumed that what she saw on the surface was all there was to see, and had left it at that. 

_Even though I always hated it so much when other people did that to me._ How many times had she deflected the interest of people who saw nothing in her beyond her face and figure? She felt she should have been better at seeing past other people’s facades. She resolved to try harder in the future. 

_I wonder what else there is about him I don’t know?_

“Watch your step,” said Manjoume. “Escher is telling me that we’re coming up on a really icy patch just ahead.” 

“Thanks for the warning,” she said. “Do we have much further to go?” 

“He says not far now. We just have to get through this icy bit, and then there’s a place where the caves open up and branch off in different directions. Once we get there, we’ll need his help to see which way we should go, but we’re more than halfway now.” 

“Good,” she said. There might be something evocative about being deep underground, in a place where perhaps no human had ever set foot, but she was also longing to see daylight again. 

The path became steeper and rougher. Asuka found that she was rather glad she had agreed to take Manjoume’s hand, because they were having to help each other constantly to maintain balance. Once, Manjoume stepped on a rock that tilted and went sliding away down the slope, and it was only Asuka’s grip that kept him from sliding away with it. At last, they reached a place where the path leveled out a bit, and they were able to proceed in a manner more dignified than clambering and scrabbling. Asuka found herself shivering a bit as she walked. She’d worked up a sweat with all that climbing, and the air was getting colder. 

She found out why a moment later when they rounded a sharp curve in the path and found themselves blinking in sudden daylight. Only... not daylight. What Asuka’s dazzled eyes had initially taken for blue sky was in fact a dome of ice. They were standing in an ice cave, a place where meltwater had carved a smooth channel through a block of compressed snow. The light here was deep blue, and the wavering shape of the walls made Asuka feel she was standing at the bottom of the ocean. 

“Wow,” said Manjoume, summing up her feelings nicely. 

“It’s beautiful,” she agreed. She took a careful step forward - careful because the ground was as slippery as Escher had warned it would be. 

“It kind of reminds me of you,” he said. 

She turned to look at him, and he avoided her gaze. He had spoken at a volume that had suggested he didn’t really want or expect her to hear, but the echoes in the cave amplified every sound. 

“Because it’s beautiful?” she asked, arching one eyebrow. “Or because it’s cold, hard, and nearly impossible to get to?” 

He squirmed, looking profoundly embarrassed. 

“Because it’s... I don’t know the word. Serene. Like it’s so far away from the rest of the world that nothing can bother it. I’m never like that. I always feel everything all the time, except when I’m with you. Then, just for a little while, I can feel calm.” 

Asuka felt something catch in her chest. She had wondered what he saw in her. If she had wondered for a million years, she never would have guessed something like this. 

“Manjoume,” she said, “I think that’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.” 

He grinned. “Yeah, well... I figured you should know.” 

“I’m starting to think,” she said, “that there’s something special about you, too.” 

For a moment, he glowed as if all his dreams had come true. Then he pulled himself together and gave her that familiar old smirk. 

“About time you noticed,” he said. 

She burst out laughing. “There’s the Manjoume I know. I was starting to get worried.” 

“Yeah, all this mushy stuff isn’t me, is it? Blame it on the scenery,” he said. 

“No, I don’t think so,” she said. “I think you’re really just a big softy, deep down. A complete teddy bear.” 

“Whatever,” he said, but he seemed pleased. “Come on. We’ve got stuff to do, right?” 

“I suppose we can’t hang around here all day,” she agreed. 

She took one last look at the glowing blue ice cave before Manjoume took her hand and led her onwards. It felt more natural than it had even a few minutes ago. She decided she could get used to it. 

_Who knows?_ she thought. _Someday, I might even start to like it._

* * *

It was a good thing that Escher was guiding them, Manjoume reflected later, because otherwise he would have gotten hopelessly lost. This wasn’t just because the path, which had been one single track up until now, suddenly split apart into multiple branches, sometimes intersecting, sometimes meandering off into dead ends or sudden precipitous drops. If there hadn’t been someone to show him the way, Manjoume would doubtless have stumbled over a ledge and disappeared forever. He was wandering in a happy daze, too caught up in fantasies of the future to do much more than turn left or right as his guide instructed. When they reached the end of the road, he nearly walked into it. 

“We’re here,” said the resonant voice in his ear. 

Manjoume blinked, clearing his mind of wedding bells. A rock wall was rising above him. It had escaped his attention largely because there was nothing else down here to see _but_ rocks, aside from the occasional puddle or heap of debris. It dawned on him now, though, that there was nowhere else for him to turn; it was walk into the wall or stop walking. He stopped and stared up at it, and Asuka nearly walked into him. 

“What is it?” she asked. 

“This is it,” said Manjoume. “That’s what Escher says, anyway.” 

Asuka played her flashlight over the wall. “I don’t see anything. It’s all just rocks.” 

“Wait a second,” said Manjoume. He turned to his guide. “So where’s this deck we’re looking for?” 

“Up here.” Escher rose on his cloud of ice crystals until he was roughly twenty feet above the ground. He pointed at something that was invisible in the dark, and Manjoume trained his flashlight on it. Asuka helpfully focused her beam there as well, and in their light, he could just make out a glint of metal against the gray stone. 

“I see it,” he said. From where he stood, he could just make out the shape of a leather deck case with a few brass studs. It looked like the sort of thing most of the serious duelists he knew carried. Cards were, after all, not the most durable things in the world, but there was nothing a duelist valued more than their deck, so all of them found their own ways of protecting them. Deck sleeves and binders came into play, but most people also had a reinforced box of some sort that would protect their card from whatever the world might throw at them. Some people went so far as to buy guaranteed fireproof boxes, or deck boxes that were advertised to survive being run over by a truck, or ones that had embedded tracking chips in case they were ever lost or stolen. This one looked like a pretty run-of-the-mill deck case, such as might be purchased by a casual duelist who just wanted something that would keep his cards dry if he got caught in the rain. Manjoume hoped it had weathered the damp down here. 

“How are we going to get it down?” Asuka asked. “It’s too high to reach.” 

“We could climb,” Manjoume said dubiously. “It looks like there are a few handholds.” 

“It’s worth a try,” said Asuka. 

She started towards the wall, but he tugged her back. 

“Let me go first,” he said. He wasn’t just showing off, although there was an element of that in the gesture. He had been raised to be a gentleman, for certain values thereof, and if there was a risk, he felt he ought to be the one taking it. Besides, it had been impressed on him since he was too young to understand why that he should not climb, for example, the steps up the sliding board with a girl going ahead of him, or, if it could not be avoided, to keep his eyes pointing firmly downwards. “Just hold the light steady so I can see what I’m doing.” 

Asuka acquiesced, leading him to believe that she hadn’t wanted to climb the rocks very much, and had merely offered out of a sense of duty. Well, he didn’t want to climb them very much either. The wall was steep, and the rocks looked wet and slippery, the handholds too widely spaced for his liking. Nevertheless, he made a show of limbering up and prepared to make the climb. 

The first few feet weren’t so bad. The stone was rougher there, and he found plenty of toe-holds. Around the ten-foot mark, though, the going became more difficult. He found himself groping for handholds and backtracking to try from another angle. 

“It’s no good,” he said at last. “I can’t get any higher.” 

“Let me try something,” said Asuka. 

She propped both flashlights on a convenient rock so that the two beams together illuminated most of the rock face. Then she chose a place near him and began scampering her way up. Once she’d gone as high as she could go, she reached out a hand to him. 

“Here,” she said. “I’ll be your handhold.” 

Manjoume nodded his understanding and reached to take her hand. With her help, he was able to scramble up a few more inches before reaching down and helping her up after him. In this way, they were able to work their way inch by inch up the cliff face. 

And then they stopped. Manjoume hung there, panting, with the box still about two feet out of reach. No matter how he groped, he could find no hold that would allow him to scale those last few inches. 

“Tenjoin-kun, can you...?” he began, but she was already shaking her head. 

“I don’t think so,” she said. “The rock is too smooth up here.” 

“Damn,” Manjoume muttered. He gazed up at the box. It was so close, and they had come so far and climbed so high. “There’s gotta be a way. I refuse to be beaten by some stupid rocks!” 

“Hmm,” said Asuka. “There’s a thought.” 

He looked at her quizzically. “What?” 

“How are you at baseball?” she asked. 

“So-so,” he said. “Why do you ask?” 

“Do you think you could find a rock and toss it to me?” 

“Huh?” said Manjoume, and then, “Oh, I get it! Hang on.” 

He scrambled back down to the base of the cliff and scrabbled among the rubble until he found a suitable stone, one large enough to have some heft but small enough to fit comfortably in a hand. He took careful aim and lobbed it towards Asuka. Her hand shot out to snatch it from midair. He felt a small glow of pride in her skill. He watched as she studied the box for a moment, tossed the rock up and down a few times to get the feel of it, and then hurled it at the deck. It struck a glancing blow, causing the box to skid an inch or two on its resting place, so that it was now balanced precariously on the edge of its perch. Manjoume held his breath as it teetered gently, and then, with geological slowness, tipped over and began to fall. He was so fascinated that he almost didn’t react fast enough to catch it before it hit the ground. With a yelp, he managed to lunge forward to grab it, and the box dropped into his palm with a satisfying _whap_. He gave a whoop of triumph and held it up so that Asuka could see. 

“We did it!” he whooped. 

Asuka grinned as she began scampering back down to ground level. “See? I knew you were going to need my help.” 

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” he said, and meant it. 

Her expression became a bit more gentle. “Well, I couldn’t have done it without you, either. Now, let’s get out of here. I’m ready to go back to where it’s dry and warm, aren’t you?” 

“Definitely,” he said. “And we need to get this back to where it belongs.” He held up the box before tucking it deep into one of his pockets. The last thing he wanted was to lose it again. 

The spirit of Escher whispered, “You have our eternal gratitude. We will not forget what you’ve done for us.” Beneath his voice came the echoes of many others, all of them murmuring their thanks. 

“You don’t need to thank me,” said Manjoume, keeping his voice low so that only they could hear. “I’ve got my reward already.” 

Asuka, who had been walking a little ahead of him in the direction they’d come from, stopped to look back at him. 

“Hey, what are you doing back there?” she called out. “You’re the one who can see the guide out of here.” 

“I’m coming!” he called, and hurried to catch up to her. 

Escher was as good as his word. With his guidance, they found their way to a place where they could climb their way back up to the surface. The day had been overcast when they’d embarked on this adventure, what felt like years ago; now the clouds had dispersed and the sky was clear and bright, tending towards golden in the west where the sun was beginning its descent to the horizon. The dazzling light and crisp breeze made him gasp in shock. 

“It certainly does wake you up, doesn’t it?” said Asuka. She took off the warm hat she’d been wearing and shook out her hair, letting it stream in the wind. The sight made Manjoume’s chest constrict. 

“Yeah,” he managed hoarsely. “Yeah, it does.” 

She flashed him a smile more dazzling than the sun on the snow. 

“So what do you say we go back to town and get something warm to eat? I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.” 

“I think you’re right,” he said, pulling his mind back to more immediate matters. “Dinner sounds good.” 

She nodded and began walking in the direction where the ski lift lines were just visible above the trees. “So what do you think? Should we eat at the lodge or go back and look for something in town?” 

“Well, I was thinking I’d catch a ride back into town,” said Manjoume, “but you don’t have to come with me if you don’t want to. I mean, you might be tired of me by now.” 

She paused and looked him over thoughtfully. Then she smiled again. 

“I think I can tough it out a little longer,” she said. “Anyway, I want to be there when you mail that thing.” 

Manjoume grinned. Yes, the effort he’d put into this adventure had been more than worth it. 

* * *

A little later that evening, Asuka was sitting at a table in a rather nice restaurant, picking at the remains of her meal and listening to Manjoume talk on the phone. He’d found the original owner’s number printed on the inside of the deck box, presumably for just such an occasion. He’d tried once at the beginning of the meal and gotten no answer, but on this second attempt he’d finally gotten through. Asuka could just make out both sides of the conversation. 

“Hello?” said a wary voice. 

“Hey, you don’t know me,” said Manjoume, “but my friend and I were hiking in the mountains today, and we found this deck box wedged under some rocks, and this number was inside...” 

“You’re kidding!” the man yelped. “I don’t believe it - you actually found it?” 

“Looks that way,” said Manjoume. “Anyway, the cards are still in good condition, so if you want, I could mail it back to you.” 

“Please,” said the man. He sounded close to tears. “And thank you. This means a lot to me. I was sure I was never going to see it again...” 

“Just doing what any good duelist would do,” said Manjoume. 

He took down the man’s address and promised to have the deck shipped right away. After a further exchange of pleasantries, they both hung up. 

“Well, you’ve made a friend for life,” said Asuka. “I wonder what he’ll do when he realizes he’s gotten his deck back from the one and only Manjoume Thunder? Perhaps you should autograph the box for him.” 

“Aw, he’s probably never even heard of me,” said Manjoume, visibly preening. “Anyway, you deserve credit too. If I sign it, you sign it too.” 

“Deal,” she said. 

“So, are you getting dessert?” he asked. He had already set the dessert menu aside without looking at it. 

She shook her head. “Let’s get to the post office before it closes. I won’t feel like we’ve finished this until I see that box go into the mail.” 

“Same here,” said Manjoume. He waved at their waver. “Hey, over here! Check, please!” 

Asuka left the restaurant in a mellow, contemplative mood. The air was cold, but the sky overhead was clear and full of stars, and the village around them was full of light and the chatter of happy people. Asuka began to smile. It had been a good day. Now she was tired and warm and well-fed, and in the company of someone she liked, and there was nothing left to do but relax and enjoy the moment. Without thinking about it, she started to reach for Manjoume’s hand. 

And then was glad she hadn’t, when the door to one of the livelier night spots opened and her brother ambled out, surrounded by a small crowd of women of various shapes and sizes. He didn’t seem to be doing anything in particular to encourage them, or even taking much notice of him; they had apparently just been drawn into his orbit like planets around a star. When he caught sight of Asuka, he emerged from the crowd to bound over to her, beaming. 

“Hey, there you are!” he said. “I was starting to wonder when I couldn’t find you back at the lodge. Where have you been all day?” 

“You know. Around,” she said vaguely. “I ran into Manjoume, and we’ve been catching up on old times. We took a walk and talked about cards.” Well, that was more or less honest. 

But it didn’t seem to fool Fubuki. He grinned knowingly. 

“Oh, is that how it is, huh?” he said. “Well, this is definitely the place for it.” He didn’t specify what “it” was, and Asuka was afraid to ask. 

“It’s good to see you again,” said Manjoume. “Glad to see you’re doing so well.” 

“Hey, it’s good to see you again, too!” said Fubuki happily, pulling his old friend into a hug. “Hey, we should all hang out tomorrow! My new friends were telling me that there are caves around here, and they do tours and stuff. I’m gonna check it out. You want to come?” 

Manjoume looked at Asuka. Both of them began to laugh. Fubuki blinked, looking thoroughly baffled. 

“Did I say something funny?” he asked. 

“It’s an inside joke,” said Asuka. “You had to be there.” 

“Oh,” said Fubuki. He still looked confused, but his usual agreeable nature won out. “Well, I’m glad you two are getting along well enough to have inside jokes. Does that mean you’re coming with us, though?” 

“No, I don’t think so,” said Asuka. “Thanks all the same, but I think we’ve had all the caves we can stand for a while.” 

“So you’ve seen them, then!” said Fubuki brightly. “What did you think?” 

“They were... memorable,” said Asuka. 

“Absolutely,” said Manjoume, “but I don’t think I want to do it again. But let’s get together later for dinner or something and you can tell us what you thought of them.” 

“Will do!” said Fubuki cheerfully. “Gotta go now - there’s a band we want to catch.” 

He waved enthusiastically before ambling off again, surrounded by his crowd of chattering new friends. Asuka and Manjoume continued on their way to the post office. Fortunately, in a tourist town like this, the post office stayed open late for the benefit of those who wished to mail souvenirs and post cards. Manjoume was able to obtain suitable packaging, and willingly paid over the extra money for insurance, overnight shipping, package tracking, and any other bells and whistles the post office had to offer. Once he had the package wrapped and sealed to his satisfaction, he handed it with great ceremony to Asuka. 

“Allow me,” he said, and opened the lid to the package drop-off. 

She accepted the box and carried it gently in both hands. 

“Have a safe journey,” she said, and gave it a gentle pat. She found she was a little sorry to let it go. She’d gone through a lot to find this deck, and this was probably the last time she’d ever see it. Carefully, she pushed it through the door and watched it slide into the bin with the rest of the packages. 

“Goodbye,” she said, and just for a moment, she was sure she saw a shimmering shape in the air waving back at her. 

“So, what do you want to do now?” Manjoume asked, when they’d left the building. 

“Go back to my room and put my feet up,” she said. “It’s been a busy day.” 

“You’re probably right,” he said, looking slightly disappointed. Then he perked up a little. “But you did say we’d meet your brother tomorrow for dinner, right?” 

She smiled. “I think we’ll probably see each other again before that.” 

“Oh!” he said. “Well, good.” 

They walked up the street to wait for Manjoume’s driver to pick them up. The Northern Lights were dancing in the sky now, flickering green and gold against the blue-black sky. Asuka gazed up at them, enraptured. 

“It’s beautiful,” she said. 

Manjoume glanced at them. “I guess so. But I’d still rather look at you.” 

Asuka stifled the urge to giggle. She knew it wasn’t supposed to be funny, but it was such an unoriginal pick-up line. She had no doubt, though, that Manjoume meant every word of it. 

A distant little voice chirped, “Wow, Big Brother, that was really smooth!” 

“You be quiet,” she said automatically. 

Manjoume looked hurt. “What did I...?” 

“Not you - him!” she snapped, waving a hand at the Ojamas she could just see hovering a few yards away. “Go on, you three, shoo! This is a private conversation!” 

“Huh?” said Manjoume, and then, “Oh, them. Yeah, take a hike, you clowns!” 

The monsters squeaked and vanished. Asuka shook her head in wonderment. 

_This is going to be strange,_ she mused. Still, she was used to weird by now. After some of the things she’d been through at school, the occasional appearance by an Ojama barely rated any notice. She turned her attention back to her companion. 

“Now,” she said, “where were we?” 

Whatever came after that, there was no one else around to see.


End file.
